Dexter: "Take It"Review

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When the primal self is shattered...

By Matt Fowler

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Look, this doesn't happen very often, so I'll admit it. I wept. "Take It" was an absolute marvel; suspenseful, touching and surprising. I feel like, in a way, so many of the episodes that we've already seen - so much of the series so far - was leading up to the scene near the end between Lumen and Dexter, where they both stood over Cole's dead body and Dexter unburdened his soul. I can't fully explain why I got so emotional. Looking at it objectively, it seems a bit silly, sure. But the music and the sentiment both struck a chord. I cried.

Dexter sharing his past with Lumen and coming to terms with his own shattered self was immensely satisfying. And his line about how his father and Miguel weren't capable of fulling accepting Dexter's darkness not only gave us our first ever "Miguel" nod since Season 3, but also really helped sell us on Lumen's unprecedented significance. Fantastic moment. Lumen holding that blood slide, with tears in her eyes - tears of joy; as is she was relieved to find out that Dexter was a ritualistic murderer. I felt that joy too. Lumen's brief reunion with her ex-fiance, Owen, served as a great "you can never go home again" moment where she was able to realize how much she'd been changed, for better or worse, by what had happened to her. When she held the slide in her hands, it was as if she finally knew she'd made the right choice by not retreating back home.

And I looooved Dexter's scenes with Jonny Lee Miller's Jordan Chase. The amount of information that Chase knew about Dexter was infinitely creepy, but it also made sense. Chase is no con-man. He does believe in his message and he is the kind of person who would become overly invested in his fans. He remembered Masuka from one single seminar, remember? So as rotten and wretched as Chase is, Dexter is still able to connect with him on that underlying "we monsters understand each other" level. Last week, in "Circle Us," Chase didn't impress me that much, but this week he rocked my world. And how amazing was the scene when he brought Dexter up on stage with him? I really felt like Chase cared about Dexter. He had no reason to put him on the spot and play mind-games with him. And, of course, so much of Chase's crazy message not only applies to Dexter's life - but possibly holds the key to re-building it.

Much like in Season 1's "All in the Family" and Season 1's "Love American Style", Dexter repeated the words of, well, a dangerous sociopath, using their rhetoric to express his own feelings. It will be amazing if Chase ever finds out that his own motivational words were what ultimately lit a fire under Dexter's ass and gave him the drive to bring Chase down. There's still one man missing in the Chase/Cole/Dan villain group though. I still don't know how Chase knows all the men in the picture, and now I'm even wondering if there's an ultimate mastermind beyond Chase. I mean, Chase is no longer a mystery here. The other guy, whoever he is, has now become elevated in status because of his anonymity.

The episode itself was really tight. For a second, I was afraid that we'd have to wait a whole other episode before Cole got rubbed out. Lumen getting sent out for supplies, and aiding Dexter in constructing his kill-room seemed important enough to suffice, as far as relationship baby-steps go, if this were to be a mediocre episode. And I have to admit that I felt like their "team up" effort last week felt a little weak, but their violent, and sublime, bonding this week was perfectly paced. There have been a few times when the baggage that came with Lumen's delicate emotional state was a little frustrating, but when you mix it with Dexter's baggage in a truly honest way, it can feel remarkable. We're all used to guests stars only lasting one season, but I just don't see how they can kill Lumen off this year. She means way too much to Dexter now. Her death would hit him harder than Rita's.

Laguerta's careerist and survivalist selfish nature came back into play this week too and it was great to see Batista decide, in the end, to back Deb instead of his own wife. Cira's betrayal was a bit of a stinging swerve, but it also helped, in a weird way, justify her character overall. It was a little puzzling how underwhelmed Quinn seemed by Deb's predicament, but maybe that's was because he'd just been suspended by Laguerta himself and didn't think it was that big a deal. Deb's conversation with Dexter, in his apartment, about how some people deserved to die was bliss. It reminded me of a similar, short conversation that Dexter had with Lundy in Season 2. These kinds of chats plant those all-important "Dexter" sympathizer seeds out there. It makes you wonder who, when the day comes that Dexter's caught, will back his twisted play.

It's also been nice to be "Harry-free" for a few episodes. I feel like his words mean more when he's seen less. For the past couple years he's been a bit of a predictable nag. Right now, if they can make his appearances significant, they can use him to illustrate and illuminate deeper themes. Harry's disappearance might also mean that Dexter's found a soul-mate. Because let's face it, when Harry was constantly popping up and warning Dexter about making a mistake, it was because Dexter was about to make a huge mistake.